For
the past three years PDN has cheerfully sorted through hundreds, even thousands,
of portfolios, tearsheets and promo cards in search of our choice of 30 photographers
who we think represent the image-makers of the future. In the end, it most always
comes down to which images make us take notice; which images make us take pause
and wonder. . .

Singaporean-born photographer John Clang's work falls into this category, which
is why he was chosen as one of PDN's 30
for 2001. After moving to New York a couple of years ago Clang quickly began landing
accounts for ad and edit clients like Nordstrom, IBM, Adidas, Nylon,Surface,Interview and The New York Times Magazine. After getting a call
from fashion giant Hermes in Paris, Clang and his rep knew he had hit the big
time. But Clang remained, as he does even today, undaunted. "I'm not intimidated
by the fashion world," he says. "When I shoot, I never have the problem of thinking
of other photographers' work. I'm not a fashion shooter. I love it, but I'm not
a fashionista." Not one to pigeonhole himself, Clang goes effortlessly back and
forth between ad campaigns, editorial shoots and stark, clean still lifes that
he creates for personal work. "I like my images simple and clear," he explains.

In the Q&A that follows, Clang takes us through his journey from Singapore to
New York. Along the way he's formed solid friendships and business associates including Ogilvy & Mather Senior Partner/Manager of Art Buying Cindy Rivet.
All four take time out here to discuss the current state of the photo industry
and how young emerging talent can break into that world and rise to the top. As
Rivet states, "Ad agencies, art buyers, creative directors, etc. are all supportive
of the 'young guns' in the industry today. We welcome their fresh eye and fresh
perspective."

The following interview is broken into four parts: Clang on Clang; the photographer
and his reps talk business; Rivet
and Clang discuss their collaborative process, and Rivet talks about art buying
in general.

I: CLANG on CLANG

John
Clang

PDN: Where did you study photography?

JOHN CLANG: I went to an art college in Singapore, but only for
six months because it was incredibly slowgoing. Basically, I had lecturers who
taught me photography but the last time they ever worked in the industry was like
five years before that, or the lecturer was some nobody who just studied to get
a degree, it came, and they decided to teach.

One day when I decided to deliberately overexpose a few shots because of the sudden
feeling that I got from it and my teacher gave me an A minus! I was quite upset
and actually stomped into her room and asked her "Why does this picture get an
A minus? Because I think it's A plus work." During that confrontation she said
she would give it some thought and the next day she gave me an A plus. The day
after that I knew that I wasn't going to attend that school anymore because the
lecturer had no opinion. It wasn't going to guide me anywhere, so why stick with
it? Instead I called up a fine-art photographer whose work I had seen in the news
and said, "I'll work for you for free."

PDN: And so did that become your first assisting job in Singapore?

CLANG: Yes, I was first assistant to a fine-art photographer
who owns a well-known gallery featuring contemporary Chinese artists. Working
for this particular man was a great learning experience because I had to set everything
out for him and he would just tell me "That's wrong" or "That's right." My first
day working with him was on a yacht and I was very eager to please him. I grabbed
all of the clothes involved in the shoot and tried to carry everything in one
hand; I didn't know that it had all been ironed out and that there were no irons
on the yacht. Everything got rumpled and wrinkled. He just gave me a stern look.
It was the most terrifying day of my life. But I learned a lot assisting him:
from the lenses that he chose to the focusing he used to the models he selected,
I did it all. I learned more about my craft from assisting than I ever did from
school.

CLANG:
Although I was an installation artist in Singapore from the age of 18 on and had
had many successful shows in galleries, I wasn't really thinking about the future
or about having a career. . .I didn't have to. . .I was living with my parents,
so I didn't have to pay for rent or things like that. Then one day two agency
creatives who attended one of my shows saw my work and asked me to shoot an ad
campaign for Singapore Airlines. That job started the ball rolling on my photography
career.

PDN: When did you come to New York?

CLANG:
About two, two-and-a-half years ago. In the beginning, my book was being sent
off by my rep, but there was no response at all. Every morning I'd
wake up just hoping that the phone would ring. Eventually I got a call from a
reputable ad agency who had looked at my book and said there was a possible job
for me. It turned out to be a job for Nordstromshoes.com. The agency, Fallon,
sent me the layout and then I was supposed to talk to the art director, Scott
O'Leary. I filled him in on my background and my experience and we discussed the
concept together. I remember it so well because I'd never worked on an ad in the
U.S. before. Scott and I had almost one week of conversation before they finally
gave me the job.

PDN: Having now established yourself both here and abroad, do you think
you have a particular style that clients seek out?

"The
client knows that I do things that are nice and simple" -John Clang

CLANG:
I'm not sure if a client seeks me out for a particular style but I do know that
the client's response to me is generally based on my sensibility. They know that
I do things that are very simple. I have a very constructive mind based on my
installation background. The way I work is that I'll tell the ad agency what I
feel
based on the layout they have sent me. And then if it's wrong, they can tell me
it's wrong. But if it's something that is wrong yet better, I'd like to know that
as well. At the end of the day they receive my faxed treatments of how I see the
whole campaign going: the color, the feeling, the emotional quality that emerges
from the visual. Through this process the agency gets very comfortable with me
because they understand better what I'm saying and where I'm coming from.

PDN: What, if any, differences are there for a photographer working
here as compared to working in Asia?

CLANG: I always tell my friends that New York is heaven for photographers
because as a photographer here you have more pride and are more respected. In
New York, you are chosen to do a job based on your visual sense, based on your
style. You don't feel like you are being compromised. In New York you can rent
anything on a shoot, you hire a producer, you hire an assistant, you get three
or four assistants, all the equipment. . .it's all paid for by the client. On
top of that, you can set your own fee. But in Singapore there's a huge overhead
involved: There I had to have a studio and I had to hire three or four assistants,
full time, on payroll and I had to have all the equipment myself. Over there,
I had to keep working, keep taking jobs, even if I wasn't crazy about them, so
I would have money to live on.

PDN:
In New York, where do you draw your inspiration from?

CLANG: I draw a lot of my inspiration from films that I watch.
And walking in the park, walking in the street. I almost never bring a snapshot
camera when I'm going around a place. I always believe that if a thing occurs
right in front of you, sit there, open your eyes and enjoy it. Don't bother to
record it. I'm not a big fan of the photojournalistic style. To me the daily life
that we live and breathe is a pure inspiration. If you want inspiration just put
a sign in a stuffy room. Don't breathe for one and a half minutes. Walk to the
window, open it and breathe. That breath is life. My aim wasn't to be a fashion
photographer or successful commercial photographer. I eventually want to move
back to where I came from, to the gallery world.

PDN: Can you tell me a little bit about the photography magazine, Werk,
that you started with your friend Theseus Chan?

CLANG: It's for young artists who really want to say something
that hasn't been said before and it's amazing to me that I'm the director of photography.
We only use young, fresh photographers and stylists, people who are really passionate
about their work and who have their own point of view. It's published every three
months, limited copies are sold in New York and Europe, and we cover fashion,
arts and graphic design. So far photographers Chuan Do in Singapore, Kirby Koh
in the U.K., Leslie Kee in Tokyo, and Christian Webber and Mei Tao in New York
have shot for the magazine. I'm interested in featuring fashion and art shooters,
any new photographer with a statement to make. Photographers can send their work
to me with a letter stating exactly what they see in their photography and why
they want to be a part of the magazine.

PDN:
What advice do you have for young photographers just starting out?

CLANG: Well, you've got to have a promotion or get into a sourcebook
but I don't think good work can be shown with just a single image so I suggest
that if you want to show your work well, make a small booklet. Go somewhere like
Asia, where the printing is cheap, make it there, ship it to the U.S. and then
distribute it. That's what I did when I first came here. I made four hundred books
that I sent out to everyone I wanted to work with.

PDN: Are you surprised by your success?

CLANG: I don't feel surprised but I feel very fortunate. I've
always been a very confident guy and I've always believed that as a photographer
you must have a certain sense of cockiness. You go to a shoot, you have a lot
of stars there, all of the assistants, the clients, the fashion models, etc. and
you are forced to work with all those egos, including your own. Everybody has
the say of what they want to do. But YOU, the PHOTOGRAPHER has to be the one to
tell everybody to listen to you. If you are too nice, nobody's going to listen
to you. You have to be nasty to a certain degree. I'm pretty good at psychology
games. I think most photographers are.